


Incidental Assembly

by pretentiouskneecap



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, IKEA Furniture, M/M, Sort Of, Swearing, putting furniture together is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24351403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretentiouskneecap/pseuds/pretentiouskneecap
Summary: For a "it's 3am and I'm exhausted and I can hear you raging next door about failing at putting together an ikea bed together so here I am helping you put it together and holy shit you're cute" au I saw on a dailyau tumblr post.
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 21
Kudos: 105





	Incidental Assembly

The angry shouting from next door had been going on almost an hour now. 

For maybe the seventh time since it had started, Clover pushed back the covers he’d thrown over his head, craning his neck to read the bright red numbers on his alarm clock. It was officially past three in the morning, and he had to be up for work in three hours. At least the strategy meeting with their new partners wasn’t for a few more days, but he would still like to be somewhat rested in the morning. 

The vehement words penetrated through the thin walls of his apartment as if they never even existed. 

“I  _ know  _ that, Tai. I tried that already. These directions don’t make any fucking sense!”

There was silence for a moment before the ranting started up again. 

“Because this damn thing is impossible to understand! Now I’m the unlucky bastard putting his bed together at three in the goddamn morning, and some asshole over at FNTR is laughing at me because nothing is labelled the way it  _ should be _ .”

If he didn’t do something about this soon he wasn’t going to get any sleep tonight. 

Groaning, he pushed himself up out of bed, grimacing as the cool air of his apartment hit his bed-warmed skin and sliding on his slippers to pad out of his apartment over to the one next door. He knocked more loudly than he usually would have for this time of night, but he was concerned his neighbor wouldn’t hear it over his own ranting if he didn’t. 

The racket coming from inside the apartment paused, and Clover could hear his neighbor’s muffled voice saying “hang on,” presumably to whomever was on the phone.

Angry footsteps grew louder and Clover had a moment’s regret that this was the way he was about to meet his newest neighbor. Then the door was wrenched open and Clover was greeted by quite possibly the most attractive man he’d ever seen in sweatpants and a ragged Beacon hoodie. His mind blanked while he scrambled to retrieve the words he’d been prepared to say.

“What?” the man scowled, brows drawn sharply down over vibrant eyes. His voice, when not raised in a shout, was low and husky and distracting. 

“Uh,” Clover said, stupidly, still bleary from his abrupt awakening and having trouble focusing on anything other than how much he  _ really _ wished he hadn’t worn the fluffy shrimp-shaped slippers Elm had given him at the last office gift exchange.

The man sighed, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms, “Look, pal, I’m sorry for the noise, okay? I’ll keep it down.”

“It’s fine,” Clover answered, although really, it was a bit inconsiderate considering the hour, but Clover had had his own fights with furniture in the past and he could understand the frustration. And it wasn’t like he knew what else might be happening in this man’s life. “I just, uh—” he waved his arm in the air uselessly. “Need any help?”

The man’s brows shot up into his hair and his mouth thinned like he was about to refuse. He looked down at the screwdriver in his hand and his shoulders dropped farther into their slouch. He let out another, deeper sigh. 

Before he could answer, a voice squawked out of the phone in his hand. 

“Hell yes, he does. Qrow, I have two girls to raise that are going to be awake in approximately three hours and I would like to get some sleep tonight. Count yourself lucky your neighbor is offering to help you instead of strangling you outright and  _ take his help _ . Goodnight.” 

The phone clicked as the call ended and there was an awkward pause as a flush rose on Clover’s neighbor’s cheeks and Clover fought hard not to stare at it. 

“Yeah, okay, fine,” the man—Qrow—said, the words begrudging. “Come on in.”

Clover had just crossed the threshold when muggy heat hit him like a wave. He couldn’t quite control his grimace. Qrow must’ve caught it, because he took one look at Clover and the aggravated expression was back in place. 

“The air conditioner unit broke,” he said, and rolled his eyes. The next words came out under his breath. “Just my luck.”

Clover wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear that last part or not, but he really was starting to understand Qrow’s frustration. Atlas temperatures were at a record high this week, and the heat was oppressive. The buildings in Atlas were designed to retain heat to offset costs in the long winter months, and the old apartment building only had small window units built in to circulate cool air during the short summers. 

Having grown up in cold climates himself, Clover wasn’t the biggest fan of the recent weather. He couldn’t imagine trying to sleep in this, and wished he hadn’t gotten rid of his old box fan last year. 

They passed through the kitchen to the bedroom, which was thankfully cooler due to an open window, although Clover noticed the other was still shut. A mattress was leaned up against the far wall, and pieces and parts of a FNTR bed frame were strewn across the floor, tools mixed into the clutter. 

It didn’t look like Qrow had gotten very far in his assembly. 

Qrow spread his arms out to encompass the room. “Well, here we are. I can’t make head or tails of the stupid directions for this monstrosity.”

Clover wondered how long Qrow was planning to be in this apartment. He hadn’t seen more than a bowl, a cup, and a few utensils on the kitchen counters, and a couple of small boxes in the living room. Nothing large enough to hold substantial pieces of furniture, let alone anything like a couch or a desk. Although, Qrow had just moved in. Maybe he was waiting on more things to arrive. 

The only personal touch Clover had seen was a magnet on the fridge, what looked like school photos of two young girls. He wondered if they were the same two Qrow’s friend had mentioned on the phone earlier. 

“Looks like quite a bit of work, but I bet between the two of us we can handle it,” Clover said with a smile. He inclined his head toward the closed window. “Any reason you haven’t opened that? Might make it a bit cooler in here.” 

Qrow glared at the window. “Couldn’t get it open.” 

“Mind if I have a try?” Clover asked. “They can be a bit tricky. I’ve had a few problems with mine before.”

“Have at it.” Qrow shrugged, so Clover walked over, leaning in to examine the latches. After a moment’s survey, he understood the problem. 

“You had the bottom latches unlocked, but this side one here needs to be switched too,” he explained, gesturing at the bar and pulling it upward to unlock it.

He put his hands under the wood at the bottom and pushed up on the windowpane, straining and jiggling it back and forth as the old wood creaked and resisted until finally it shot upward and cool air wafted through the screen. 

He turned back to Qrow with a smile, wiping off a few beads of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead from even that brief effort in the humidity of the room. 

“There. The air conditioning is out of my league, but these units are pretty old. I’m not too surprised they need replacing,” he said. “Should we get started on the bed?”

He started to get concerned as the silence stretched on and Qrow didn’t say anything. He seemed to have zoned out, and was staring into space in Clover’s direction. 

“Hey, everything okay?” he prompted again.

That seemed to snap Qrow out of it. 

“Right, sorry, uh—” Qrow cut off abruptly, looking flustered, and the back of Clover’s mind whispered  _ cute _ before he caught up with Qrow’s confusion. “—-what was your name again?”

Clover fought the very strong urge to slap his own forehead, instead stepping forward and holding out his hand. “Yeah, sorry, I should’ve introduced myself earlier. I’m Clover, I live next door to the right.” 

“Qrow,” Qrow responded, casting a skeptical eye at Clover’s outstretched hand before taking it in a quick, firm shake. He turned back to the mess on the floor, granting Clover with a nice view of his profile. Clover idly wondered how his stubble would feel on his skin. “Honestly, I’m usually pretty handy with this stuff, but I can’t make heads or tails of whatever the hell these directions are telling me to do.”

Clover knelt down at the edge of the pile, reaching for the directions lying crumpled up and open over a slat of wood that had been wedged into an iron frame. 

He heard an amused noise from behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Qrow grinning, looking down at Clover’s feet. 

“Nice slippers,” he commented, and Clover attempted to tamp down on a reflexive flush. 

“Gift from a coworker,” Clover explained, and, deciding to lean into it, he wiggled his toes before edging the slippers off. “They’re surprisingly comfortable, although maybe not in this heat.”

Qrow laughed, and Clover couldn’t help his grin. Qrow’s laughter was charming, and Clover decided he’d definitely like to hear it again. 

The work went by fast enough once they got started, and they discovered that the two of them collaborated well. Clover puzzled through the instructions while Qrow worked out what pieces and tools went together and organized them based on Clover’s insights and his own intuitive understanding of how everything fit. 

After plenty of time strategizing, they started assembling. Clover held the pieces steady while Qrow wielded the Allen wrench and screwed them together. Their conversation weaved in and out of the task at hand to more personal topics, and Clover couldn’t resist throwing in the occasional flirtatious comment, if only to see Qrow flush. 

There was something about Qrow that drew Clover in, even beyond his attractiveness. Qrow peaked his interest, made him want to learn more, and he found the time flew by far more enjoyably than he’d expected. 

They were making strong progress and were within sight of finishing, the structure of the frame taking shape, although there was still a good chunk of work left to do before the bed was done. 

Clover leaned back to take a breath and close his eyes. When he opened them again, it occurred to him all at once that there was  _ light  _ coming through the window. 

Clover abruptly realized he had no idea how much time had passed. He glanced down at his phone screen to see the timestamp 6:45 lighting up at him and an “oh, shit” slipped out before he could prevent it. Qrow’s head jerked up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, sorry, just realized I’m supposed to be at work in fifteen minutes,” Clover glanced down at himself, disheveled with clothes sticking to his body, covered in a sheen of sweat from spending hours in Qrow’s humid apartment. He considered the fact that he’d had barely any sleep all night, and decided there was no way he was going to make it in today. 

He considered himself lucky that his team was so far ahead in the prep for the meeting that missing one day wouldn’t be a disaster.

Clover looked up to see guilt written over Qrow’s expression. Qrow rubbed an arm across the back of his neck. “Shit, I didn’t mean to make you miss work. I’ve really got this under control if you need to get going.”

“No, it’s okay. We’re so close to finishing, I wouldn’t wanna miss seeing the end result,” he sent Qrow a wink, feeling his mood perk up a bit when Qrow flushed. “They can do without me for one day. I’ll just call and give them a head’s up.” 

Clover scrolled through the work contacts in his phone, considering for a minute before landing on Marrow’s name. As much as his newest coworker tried to take on an air of nonchalance, Clover could tell Marrow cared very deeply about his promotion and worked hard at his job. He and Clover were often the first two into the office, after James, who would probably already be too buried in work to notice his phone ringing. 

He clicked on Marrow’s name to start the call, and at the dial tone Clover belatedly realized that his alarm must have been going off in his apartment for the better part of the last hour. He was a light sleeper, and kept the volume set low so it wouldn’t bother anyone else. He hoped at some point it had shut off automatically. 

The call rang through twice before Marrow picked up. “Hey, boss, what’s up?”

“Hey Marrow. Something came up and I’m not going to make it in this morning. Mind letting Ironwood know?”

“Sure thing,” Marrow agreed, and there was a brief pause over the line. “Everything okay?” 

“Everything’s fine, just got tied up in something unexpected,” Clover answered. “And if you don't mind, remind Ironwood to take a minute to eat something before everyone starts filing in, if he hasn’t already.”

“Yep, remind the big boss to take a break. Got it.”

“Thanks Marrow. I’ll do some work from home and put in a half-day. We can debrief on our progress tomorrow.”

Plans made, he and Marrow exchanged goodbyes and he clicked off the call, looking up to find Qrow staring at him quizzically. 

“Ironwood,” he said, sounding bemused. He cleared his throat. “Are you talking about James Ironwood?” 

Clover doubted there were many other Ironwoods in Remnant, let alone Atlas. “I work for him. Do you know him?”

“James and I go way back. I moved down here for the time being to work with his team,” Qrow said, and Clover had a moment of dawning realization. “I work for Ozpin.”

Clover’s mind was racing. Qrow. Qrow was the representative from Beacon. The one Clover was meant to be at work preparing all of the information for, that they’d been prepping for for weeks. The one who Clover would be partnered up with for at least the next few months, if not longer in the event that things went well. 

Clover considered his current state of dress and the little bits of flirting he’d been tossing Qrow’s way all morning and wanted to bury his head in his hands.

Clover took his job seriously. He was used to feeling composed and confident and getting good results. Of all the ways he’d imagined meeting his new counterpart, this wasn’t even close to one of them. 

He desperately tried to piece together some semblance of his usual professionalism. “Then I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other. I’m the leader of that project.” 

Clover almost laughed as he watched Qrow go through the same mental gymnastics he’d just experienced, but forced himself not to. He didn’t want Qrow to take it the wrong way. 

“Really,  _ you _ ? You’re—not what I expected,” Qrow sputtered, and Clover didn’t know how to take that. “I, uh, guess it’s nice to meet you officially then.” There was a beat while Qrow looked between the two of them and the half-formed bed on the floor and the corner of his lips quirked up. “Maybe semi-officially.” 

Clover smiled back. He supposed it wasn’t the worst way this introduction could have gone, despite how unconventional it was. At least he knew their personalities meshed well, and their communication was strong and already improving. 

He had to admit, he was looking forward to working closer with Qrow. 

“Likewise,” he said. Qrow treated him with a small smile for a moment before he yawned and leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. Clover winced as he heard Qrow’s back crack with the movement. 

“Don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind a break,” Qrow admitted. “Seeing as I’ve already ruined your plans for the day, how does breakfast sound?”

Clover’s stomach threatened to growl at the thought of food, and the thought of a break and a shower was welcome. 

“Breakfast sounds perfect right about now,” Clover agreed. “I know a great local coffee shop not far from here. It’s on the way to the office, so I usually drop by on my way into work. I’d love to take you.”

Clover didn’t miss the way Qrow’s eyes sharpened at the way Clover phrased that, and he couldn’t bring himself to regret it, even though he won’t risk their future professional relationship on actually asking Qrow on a date. Not this early on, anyway. 

“Works for me,” Qrow answered, and his voice was the slightest bit cautious but a genuine smile tugged at his lips. 

Clover felt a surge of apprehension and excitement overtake him. He didn’t have any idea where their relationship would take them, but he couldn’t wait to find out.  


**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading!


End file.
